So, apparently, Britney Spears’ decision to shave her head was ‘the buzz cut heard round the world’ – who knew? But beyond my own affinity for buzz cuts – I am, after all, involuntarily committed to them – it’s curious to note that this last act is seen as Spears’ most self-destructive. I can’t help but think that, as a young woman, shaving her head is the ultimate rejection of femininity and standards of all-American feminine beauty. I’m not saying that this is what ‘Brit’ had in mind – but it sure is interesting to see that the media reaction to the removal of her ‘long, womanly locks’ is seen as the last straw in a downward spiral of self-negation. The drugs, the drinking, the ‘hanging-out-with-Paris-Hilton’ – not so much. But cut your hair and, wow: you’re one fucken’ crazy bitch!

Idiots.

Thestar.com Link

Does Microsoft’s future lie in an Apple-esque integration of hardware and software?

Further Proof of Incoming Zune Phone? – Gizmodo

This rumour from Giz, further suggesting that MS are closer to producing a Zune Phone (with WiMax no less!), has gotten me thinking about Microsoft’s foray into hardware – are they out to copy the model of Apple?

The Mac’s strongpoint has always been the tight integration of hardware and software. With both the hardware and software interfaces being produced by the same company, Apple maintains a tight grip on the distribution, experience and marketing of their own products. Among other things, this has allowed Apple to innovate precisely in the overlap between hardware and software; one of the main reasons the iPod has been so successful is that it works so seamlessly with iTunes.

Microsoft’s approach has always been the opposite: produce the software and wait for hardware vendors to hop on board to complete the experience. Naturally, from internet TV to Media Centre, Microsoft’s software-only approach has hampered the deployment and uptake of otherwise solid ideas. One imagines that AppleTV will become widespread far faster than Media Centre precisely because of the singularity of vision that Apple employ.

But the release of the 360, the Zune and probably the Zune phone suggests that Microsoft is no longer content to simply free software into the wild and wait for others to take advantage of it. It seems that Microsoft have seen the apple at the end of the tunnel (oh god, I didn’t just type that did I?). As much backlash as there been about the closed system of Zune and Zune Marketplace, Microsoft has seen just how effective closed systems can be at providing a superior user experience.

The downside of course is the exclusivity and lack of interoperability of these closed systems. But with Steve “Mad Dog” Jobs himself (very conveniently) calling on the record industry to eschew DRM, who knows – other companies might finally take everything that’s good about Apple and run with it.